Okay, as promised I have returned to ALEC's post regarding what they perceive to be a school turn around. They say that it kept the same kids, same teachers, and they were able to improve the situation. From the comments it seems there is some dissent regarding this claim.
And from my very brief review, I think ALEC is doing a lot of positive thinking. Unfortunately I am having a hard time working with the new and improved MN Dept of Education site. Sometime after Gov. Dayton joined us they "improved" the system. Since I am pretty tech savvy, and I find it hard to find school info, I feel sorry for any technophobe trying to get anything useful out of it. The previous version had a nice button called "School Report Card" that let you search for your school, then it would give access to general info.
MPP A Story of Reform That Worked by ALEC
Washington Technology Magnet
WTM Registration Policy
Arlington Senior High School
AHS Will Not Rise from Ashes
Tempers and Tears
Any thoughts regarding what I am missing on the "improved site", or what you know about this Arlington to Washington change / improvement would be greatly appreciated.
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3 comments:
I thought I should mention that I am not trying to throw cold water on ALEC's school. If things are improving, that is excellent!!!
What I am question is ALEC's position that improvement occured with minimal or no changes. There are many factors at play.
Education Factors
My guess is that :
- It has become an optional school where Parents need to do some work to get their kids enrolled. (ie register) G2A 2 & 7 School Model Therefore many of the Unlucky kids are no longer there. (ie those w/ deadbeat parents)G2A Creative or Incompetent
- The curriculum changed significantly.
My guess would be that the only thing that really changed was the EXPECTATIONS placed on the kids by the schools. If you start out assuming that all unlucky kids are incapable of learning, you are inclined not to try to teach them anything. G.W. Bush was right.
As with many new softwares, there is a learning curve... My apologies to the MDE, their new system is different however I can still find most the info.
MDE for Parents
I think the biggest change is the student body. AHS was 48% Asian, 35% Black, 11% Hispanic and 6% other whereas Washington is now 58% Asian, 23% Black, 12% Hispanic and 7% other. Neither of which matches the District demographics which are 31% Asian, 30% Black, 14% Hispanic and 25% other.
What the variation between Washington and St Paul's demographics means to me is that kids that go there now may be poor, but the Parents are interested in their child's education. (ie they took time to register)
As for results, math and science scores did go up in 2013. Whereas reading scores fell.
Based on so many factors in play, I think it is pre-mature to say that some change in Teachers/Culture is making a difference. I hope it is, however more time and data will be necessary to tell.
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